Hundreds of Portland high school students missed class today to gather in front of McDaniel High School as part of the National Shutdown happening in protest of ICE. Students held signs and chanted for hours while standing in the cool Portland weather. One sign read, “We are missing our lessons to teach you one”. “We fully support the rights of our staff and students to peacefully protest and have their voices heard,” said PPS Chief Human Resources Officer Dr. Angela Freeman in a letter to teachers. “You have our word that we will never stop advocating for and supporting our immigrant communities and working alongside you to fight injustice wherever we find it.”

Viola DeVigal, a sophomore at McDaniel, was the main organizer of the protest in front of her school. After hearing about the nationwide strike, she encouraged her peers to not go to school on January 30th, the day of the strike, but wanted to do more than just stay home. She looked around to find a protest to go to, but didn’t find much. She decided to just create her own, and started advertising on social media. The word got out, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation reached out to DeVigal and offered support. Through PSL, she contacted speakers from the Immigrants Rights Coalition. DeVigal says “I couldn’t have done this alone, and so with the support from my community, we showed up and showed out.” This was not DeVigal’s first time around the block however, as she had organized a much smaller walkout against ICE on December 16th, 2025. DeVigal cares deeply about her school and community, and has heard “that students are too scared to come to school for fear of interactions with ICE. This is simply unacceptable.” She was expecting a large turnout, but was still shocked that by the end of the event, attendance was “close to 1,000” people. “I have always had faith in our community, but it means a lot to see them actually showing up.” DeVigal also expressed gratitude at seeing students from many high schools, not just her own.  “Students are the voices of today, and if we do not stand up for what we believe in, no change will come.” Of course, not everyone can walkout or strike, and DeVigal knows that, saying, “but there are so many other things to do. We can volunteer, pass out flyers, research, etc. We must all do our part for change to truly happen.”

Mark Shafir, a Benson senior, said that, “I don’t want to allow a fascist take over in this country. This is a democracy and that’s what it should be.” Amani, a McDaniel junior, shared that she attended the event because, “my mom is half Mexican, so it’s a part of my culture.” 

While it was mostly high school students, Kylo, a 7th grader at Mt. Tabor Middle School, was there with his dad. “It’s important to protest against ICE,” Kylo said. “We don’t all have equal rights and that’s not good.” This was his first time at an event like this, but he said, “It’s important to use our constitutional rights.” Moira Novak, a Grant sophomore, was encouraged by their parents to attend, and said they went, “Because I’m afraid. […] Our country has been taken over by a fascist government and we need to fight back, to fight for our democratic right to protest and to support our community. And our community includes immigrants. I think the only illegal people here are murderers and that’s ICE, not the immigrants trying to find a safe home.” A junior at Benson, Oscar Anderson-Rhodes, said that “[ICE is] doing so much just evil stuff right now in America, all around the world, especially in Minneapolis, in Portland too.” Opal, a freshman from Franklin, said, “It’s not gonna ever get better if nobody does anything.” A senior at Benson said that they came to the protest, “Because it’s my people. And I want to support and speak out, of course. I can’t be quiet in these times.” They are Mexican-American and are a Mexican citizen, and they say that they feel “really really angry and like everyone is stupid.”

They heard about the protest “through word of mouth and, like, people posting the information on their Instagram stories.;” This is similar to many other students there, who used the internet — especially Instagram — to spread the word about the protest. Gael Birnley Zimmerman, a sophomore at Benson, heard about it the same way. “I heard about it through Instagram, just a lot of people posting it.” He shared it, and ended up bringing his friends Bodhi Granger and Oskar Haslett, who are also Benson sophomores. “F**k ICE!” Birnley Zimmerman said.

Right at the edge of the sidewalk stood a group of Grant students holding a large yellow banner for the Sunrise Movement, a non-profit that fights for “climate revolution” and works with young people. One of them, a junior named Alessandro, said,  “I am feeling very motivated. I think we have a lot of momentum right now.” Nathan, a junior who is a lead of Grant’s Sunrise Movement hub, said “Things are feeling very tense. Like, if you, like, hear about what’s going on in Minneapolis right now. It’s very tense, like almost dystopian. […] it’s just terrible that our government is treating us this way,” and that “as students we need to speak up.” Next to him was Daphne, another member of Sunrise, who shared,“I want to protect everyone who ICE is targeting. ICE is not fair. ICE is wrong. And they are doing horrible, horrible things. […] I want to fight back.”

Everyone seemed to be in high spirits, despite the grey skies and on-and-off again rain. Multiple students said they felt good, and that it was motivating to see “the community get together.” Daisy, a sophomore at McDaniel and the Student Leader/Founder of the McDaniel “Take Action” club, was there with a folding table, stacks of flyers, and paint pens to help people make signs.

She said, “It’s really important that we are able to recognize our power as students,” and, “I definitely feel a lot of anger and hopelessness at what’s happening right now, but also being able to see everyone come together, like how many people are here today […] is bringing me a little bit of hope.” Daphne said, “I feel liberated. […] I am feeling motivated, and I’m also feeling angry. […] I’m feeling happy to be here, and I’m feeling very motivated by seeing so many amazing people.” Novak said, “I’m angry, I’m scared, but I’m also very uplifted and motivated by how many people are here.” Everett Shrout, a McDaniel senior, said, “I think we’re making a good impact right now”